Tune sheet for automatic musical instruments



L. KUHLER.

TUNE SHEET FOR AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

I APPLICATION FILED SEPT-14.192!- Patented May 9, 1922.

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' Kw /KW 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.LOTHAR. KoHLEIaoF BREMEN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR To DR. JUR. W LHEL LTTRMAN, or BREMEN, GERMANY.

TUNE SHEET Eon AUTOMATICMUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

To aZ Z '10 ham it may concern Be it known thatvI, LOTHAR KoHLER, a citizen of the Republic of Germany,residing at Bremen, Germany, have invented cer tain Improvements Relating to the Tune Sheets of Automatic Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

When the incidental music accompanying the projection of kinematographic pictures, is to be played by' automatic musical instruments, special tune-sheets must be prepared in which not only the incidental melodies must be arranged in proper suc cession but which must also include specially composed passages whereby a harmonic change is eliected when successive melodiesare played in different keys. To produce such a tune-sheet for each particulat film in the ordinary manner is connected with considerable cost which usually bars the employment of automatic musical instruments for this purpose.

The object of the present invention is to,

facilitate the preparation as well as the playing of tune-sheets for kinematographic purposes, and the invention consists in the first place in preparing the sheets out of detachable and interchangeable sections each containing a separate tune, exchangeable and adjustable contact elements, co-op, crating with known electric and pneumatic devices, being connected to the sheet either.

for altering the speed of the sheet, for starting and stopping the same or for cutting out part of the tunes. Preferably two independent sheets are employed in which the tunes are arranged in alternate succession,

a new sheet being switched on after a small interval at each change of tune. By this arrangement the changes can be carried out in a more satisfactory manner.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is illustrated byway of example,

Fig. 1 representing a diagrammatic view showing the connection of two tune-sheet sections, and

Fig. 2, a view on a smaller scale showing the arrangement of the sections in two independent but cooperating sheets.

Fig. 3 is a plan of a tune-sheet arranged in working position, and

Fig. 4, a side view of the same.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on an exaggev Specification of Letters Patent. v Patented 113, 9, 1922,

Application filed September 1 1-, 1921. Serial No. 500,666. I

ated scale showing the tune-sheet and the electric contact.

The tune-sheet is made up of sections such as a and b, one for each particular tune, and the sections are connected by suitable elements 0 such as hooks and eyes or press-buttons so as to form a continuous whole conforming with the picture for which it is to produce the incidental music. In this manner the sheets can easily be made up, and the different tunes can be interchanged and varied as desired. The connecting elements are preferably covered by strips (Z. a At the commencement and end of each tune the sections areprovided with perforations e adapted to produce a single note or chord to harmonize, where necessary, the passage from one tune to another played in a different key. Preferably two inde pendent sheets A and B are used which work on different suction boards. In these sheets the tunes are arranged in alternate succession, and the sheets come alternately into operation, one being started and the other stopped at each change of tune. Thus tunes 1, and 5 are arranged in one sheet and the tunes 2, 4 and 6 in the other. By this arrangement the changes can be carried out in a more satisfactory manner, each sheet being stopped ready for the commencement of the next tune and restarted either immediately or within a short interval after the tune of the other sheet is finished. Thusthe connecting elements 0 and the adjacent inoperative portions of the sections can pass over the tracker-bar h after the tune of the other sheet has been started so as not to interfere with the continuity of the music.

For switching the sheets on and ofi, electrio and pneumatic devices of known type are employed. According to the invention these devices are controlled automatically by means of contact elements 7 and f which are detachably and adjustably connected either direct to the tune-sheets or to a separate sheet so as to cooperate with contact springs g, 9 connected by means of a bar i to a rigid part of the instrument. Such contacts are also employed for altering the speed of the sheets,for stopping them in the correct starting position or for cutting out part of the tunes. The contacts may be composed of thin metal clips adapted to he pushed, in an appropriate position, over the edge of the tune-sheer; and to grip the latter so as to retain themselves in position as shown in Fig. 5.

I claim:

1. The employment, in automatic musical instruments, for the incidental music accompanying the projection of kinematographic pictures, of two independent tune-sheets made up of detachably connected sections, each section containing a different tune, electric contact elements connected to the sheets, and contact springs arranged so as to cooperate with said elements for controlling the starting and stopping of the sheets, the contact elements being arranged on the sheets so that one sheet is started When a tune of the other sheet has been played to a linish and so that such othe sheet is stopped as soon as the tune of the next section reaches the proper starting position, the tunes being arranged in the sheets in alternate succe sion, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

The employment, in automatic musical instruments, for the incidental music accompanying the projection of kinematographie pictures, of two independent tune-sheets made up of detachably connected sections, each section containing diiierent tune, electric contact elements detachably connected to the sheets, and contact springs arranged so as to cooperate with said elements for controlling the starting and the stopping of the sheets, the contact elements being arranged on the sheets so that one sheet is started when a tune or the other sheet has been played to a finish and so that such other sheet is stopped as soon as the tune of the next section reaches the proper starting position, the tunes being arranged in the sheets in alternate succession, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The employment, in automatic musical instruments, for the incidental music accompanying the projection of kineinatographic pictures, of two independent tune-sheets made up of detachably connected sections, each section containing a diiferent tune, electric contact elements adjustably connected to the sheets, and contact springs arranged so as to cooperate with said elements for controlling the starting and stopping of the SllGGJS, the contact elements being arranged on the sheets so that one sheet is started when a tune of the other sheet has been played to a finish and so that such other sheet is stopped as soon as the tune of the next section reaches a position for immediate starting, the tunes being arranged. in the sheets in alternate succession, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

LOTHAR K O HLER. 

